Film spurs interest in religious merchandise
At the Bible Book Store, goods that remind customers of Christ’s suffering are in demand.
AUBURN – Bill Carson has been selling religious items for more than 19 years. He’s never seen anything quite like the demand he’s finding today for symbols of Christ’s suffering.
He credits Mel Gibson and his film, “The Passion of the Christ,” for prompting the interest. Make that Gibson along with God, he adds.
“Passion” has created a chatter among Christians that wasn’t seen with earlier films, even blockbusters like “The Ten Commandments,” Carson recalled. That buzz, in turn, is making the register at Carson’s Bible Book Store ring.
“I don’t remember any film that has had this effect,” Carson said Monday, less than a week after “Passion” went into general release.
Nearly on cue, a customer proved his claim.
“Have you been to the movies lately?” she asks Carson as he waits on her. “Have you seen the greatest story ever told?” she continues. “The Passion?”
“I’m going tomorrow,” he answers.
Later he confides that at first he hadn’t planned on seeing the film. His wife – and questioning customers – convinced him otherwise.
Such interest has created a swell of business for his store at a time when it usually isn’t busy. The long weeks after Christmas and before Easter, which includes Lent, are often slow sales wise, Carson said. This year, though, they’ve been strong.
“I don’t have a wall crucifix left in the store,” he noted.
Nor does he have a single copy of a $25 coffee table-style book detailing “The Passion.” He had reluctantly ordered a half-dozen of the books. “They sold out right away,” Carson said. He has reordered more, and more crucifixes, too.
So far, though, he has refrained from buying into the studio hype that links Gibson’s film with a host of Passion-related paraphernalia. Carson isn’t offering the mugs or T-shirts or witness tools or jewelry that are being hawked through the movie’s official Web site. Much of it is expensive, he noted, particularly so when compared with prices of similar items already on his store’s shelves.
A “Passion” nail made of pewter that can hang from a leather thong fetches between $12.99 and $16.99, depending on the length of the thong, on the Web site. Carson has replicas of the nails that pierced Christ’s hands and feet available for 89 cents. While it doesn’t hang from the neck, it fits neatly in a pocket and is blunted so as not to pierce fabric.
Carson’s store offers a range of jewelry, including long-popular crosses and other icons, as well as books, clothing and religion-themed merchandise that can serve to remind buyers of “The Passion” at less-than-Hollywood prices.
His merchandise is drawing customers as a level usually seen “much closer to Easter.” He doesn’t know if the trend will continue, but he expects that as the film rekindles and strengthens the faith of believers, they in turn will seek out items that provide them with comfort, or serve to remind them of their Lord’s suffering and sacrifice.
There is one Hollywood item that he plans on stocking, though: Videos and DVDs of “The Passion” itself, once they become available in the fall.
Carson suspects it might become a big seller, just in time for the Christmas season.
“They say you need to see it more than once,” he notes of Gibson’s film.
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